Call me spoiled, but I paid $60 last weekend and I got 5 games of bowls (in the ballpark of $5 each), 3 enormous all-you-can-eat buffet style lunches AND first prize in the tournament was $700pp, $6000 total money. Now I don't mind supporting charity (we do it all the time through the bowls club), but for something like this (and for that kind of money!) I would have been expecting something like a participation certificate. For the above mentioned tournament the club had to prepare 5 greens (that's in the order of 7000 square metres of playing surface), pay the greens staff, prepare scorecards, coordinate lunches and a number of volunteers had to tally scores, update the scoreboard, collect entry money on the day, organise the draw and mediate any other disputes among other small jobs. I just think that -especially in light of the above - for a volunteer organisation utilising public roads which they don't close for the event that their entry fee is a bit steep. Maybe I'm too used to the fantastic bang for your buck that my number one sport offers.

FYI I'll be forking out the cash in the morning, hope it makes you feel better

Smashed me then. I finished in pretty much 4hr exactly, I didn't actually time it, presuming we left at 8am and I finished bang on 12.

I had a slow leak in the rear tyre (found out later it was a small sliver of glass ) and pulled over near the airport hoping to pump it up and get to the finish but it went flat again less than a km later so I stopped again and changed the tube. After this I got stopped at every red traffic light on Pialligo Ave/Morsehead Dr which was fustrating.

Then I jumped back onto the bike path near the hospice and came roaring around the corner to find the whole area blocked off and a fire engine sitting in the middle of the path! It apppeared to be some display or demonstration rather than an emergemcy, seemed to me to be a poor place to do it if this was the case, considering the service road was just to the left of the path.

After getting my name checked off on return I went to jump back on the bike to ride home to find the front tyre had now developed a slow leak. I wasn't really in the mood to change another tube, even though I did have a another spare, so I just pumped it up and hoped for the best. It lasted until I got home but had to stop a few times to re-inflate it.

n answer to a question in another thread about which is the toughest hill, I can confirm that Red Hill did it for me today. Probably because I had already ridden four hills (+Coppins Crossing). I felt sorry for the mountain bikers competing in the Scott 24hr at Stromlo, most of them looked absolutely exhausted as they rode slowly around. Made me feel quite fresh in comparison.

The marshalling was much better this year with lots more friendly people waving flags and telling you where to go (so to speak...). The registration process was very smooth too, especially as I had pre-entered. Weather was just about perfect too, mostly overcast with some sunny patches.

Overall great event. Ainslie for me is still the worst, felt like crap going up there after 13days off the bike, eating relatively !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! food over that period and a breaky that didn't go down to well. Black Mtn was better, Stromlo fine and Red Hill fine as well. My GPS clocked 4hr 3min but we did stop at most break points/peaks etc so more like 4hr 50min including breaks.

Well done to Rob with your standard cranks & my mate who did his first 100km+ ride (i think).

i thought of u all when i was sleeping in this morning, then heading out to the george harcourt for lunch..... well done to all of you. maybe next year my mrs wont have a work function the nite before i will be able to man up

Yep, I'm destroyed. Had a massive slump 5k's either side of Red Hill and had to suffer the humiliation of getting dropped, but around Oak's Estate I felt good again. Pretty sure I did Stromlo in a massive PB. Red Hill was a killer for me today, as good as it was to get 4 of the peaks done in the first 40 k's it made the rest of the trip a bit painful.

Also finished in 4:02, what were you wearing/riding Ross? We were probably not too far from each other the whole way

I'm not gonna talk times or speeds, but two tandems teams made it around the 100kms and all 5 climbs, which is a first. I realised towards the end that I have literally finished 200km AUDAX rides faster than this 100.

For me the bad spot was actually riding up to the base of Red Hill from the Lake, where I cramped in what I can only assume was the adductor in my leg - pain was excruciating and it almost ended my ride.

It was a good day for the tandems, and seemed fitting that this week FitAbility won the Chief Ministers award for Inclusion in Sport.

100 was tough, I'm really, really worried about Fitz's now. Let's just hope the weather is a little cooler than last year.

Robdog wrote:Yep, I'm destroyed. Had a massive slump 5k's either side of Red Hill and had to suffer the humiliation of getting dropped, but around Oak's Estate I felt good again. Pretty sure I did Stromlo in a massive PB. Red Hill was a killer for me today, as good as it was to get 4 of the peaks done in the first 40 k's it made the rest of the trip a bit painful.

Also finished in 4:02, what were you wearing/riding Ross? We were probably not too far from each other the whole way

Getting dropped? It wasn't a race

Congrats Russ on the Tandam effort. I thought I saw you on a roadie hugging my wheel out of Oaks, must have been a look alike.

Robdog wrote:Also finished in 4:02, what were you wearing/riding Ross? We were probably not too far from each other the whole way

I was wearing a blue with yellow writing Jayco jersey with black PBK knicks and ride a red Felt. After the morning tea stop near the rowing area at LBG I was pretty much solo for the rest of the ride except when I'd pass slower riders.

I think I saw you at the end, Ross. I was in the CycleCity gear at their tent. BTW, I know what you mean by going solo. I was by myself from half way up Ainslie. I had a time in mind, and just rode to that time.

Massive props to Psike! Amazing stuff. Those tandems looked heavy. Also, grats to Rob for completing considering you werent sure if you were going to attempt the climbs.

My day didn't start off great when the two mates I was riding with were 15 mins late. After we got going things went well. I think we stayed about a solid 10 minutes behind Rob the whole time, because I saw him coming down each mountain as I was nearing the top.

One of the guys I was with came off half way down Red Hill. Nothing broken but some crazy gravel rash. So from there we cut straight across to the start.

So in the end I only did 95km, but it was still an excellent hitout for Fitz's. It's going to be brutal.